Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Have No Answer To RedHawks Play
By Craig Merz

Miami showed why it spent the season hovering around the top 5 in the national rankings and is a contender to win the CCHA tournament next month. Meanwhile, Ohio State displayed the same lack of finishing that has haunted it throughout a less-than stellar season.

After scoring on their second shot in the first minute – 59 seconds to be exact – the Buckeyes could not solve goalie Jeff Zatkoff on their next 30 shots the rest of the way and were felled by the No. 5 RedHawks 2-1 Tuesday in the home finale in Value City Arena.

In losing all four games to the RedHawks - with the last game of the regular season Friday in Oxford, Ohio, - the Buckeyes have scored five goals.

“It was a playoff-type game, real tight checking,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said.

John Albert had the Ohio State (11-22-4, 7-17-3 CCHA) goal but Alexandre Lacombe scored in the first and Jarod Palmer netted the winner early in the third to snap the Buckeyes’ 2-0-1 streak.

Joseph Palmer made 25 saves in another strong outing but he had no chance against Miami’s Palmer (no relation) at 5:25. Andy Miele took the puck away from defenseman Jason DeSantis behind the OSU net and fed Palmer in the slot for a high hard blast.

“You have to make plays in a game like this. Fortunately, we made one more play than they did,” Blasi said.

It was another tough night for the Buckeyes offensively.

“Don’t forget we played the team that was No. 1 for how many weeks?” OSU coach John Markell said. “They’re not an easy team to beat.”

Flush From Weekend

He lamented the Buckeyes lack of jump and attributed it to the schedule. The teams were forced to play on a Tuesday because VCA is being used for the state wrestling tournament this weekend.

Ohio State played two tough games at Notre Dame last weekend and didn’t get home until 3 a.m. Sunday. Miami had a much easier time at home against Western Michigan, winning twice, including 8-1 on Saturday.

“Our young team didn’t recover real well from this weekend,” Markell said. “Against a team like (Miami) you can’t be 5 percent off.

"We were a step off. Miami pounced on their chances. They didn’t fall for us.”

The Buckeyes got on the board first when Albert broke down the right side and muscled his way toward the goal while warding off a defender. He got off a wicked shot that went over the shoulder of Zatkoff and off the far post before going in. It was Albert’s fourth of the season.

Lacombe got the equalizer at 15:53 with a rebound goal after Justin Vaive moved off a pin along the boards and made a wraparound shot.

Miami (28-6-1, 20-6-1) had the potential go-ahead goal disallowed with 58.2 seconds left on the middle period after a review of the play by referee Kevin Hall. Ryan Jones was streaking down the left side when he was grabbed from behind by Chris Reed. Hall signaled for a penalty but Jones maintained possession and got off a shot that Joseph Palmer stopped. Jones went to the ice and slid into the netminder and pushed him and the puck across the goal line.

Rivals Still

The RedHawks have dominated the series this season but senior forward Ryan Jones said he always enjoyed playing the Buckeyes in Columbus.

“We’ve had a lot of battles here,” he said. “They’ve got good kids. It’s been fun.”

Unfortunately for the eight OSU seniors, the ending wasn’t what they wanted but that should be no surprise since the Buckeyes finished 5-14 at home.

“It was sad,” senior Tommy Goebel said of his last game VCA. “I didn’t think about it at all on the ice. The seniors did a good job. They played hard.”

He said the goal Friday is to keep improving with the postseason looming.

“We’ve got the playoffs. It’s a second birth,’ he said. “We’re a different team than we were earlier in the season.”

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